


Rescue

by plingo_kat



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Cats, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 15:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9497774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plingo_kat/pseuds/plingo_kat
Summary: “You know what,” Prompto announces, all grandiose arm-waving and swagger, “I’m surprised. I’mastonished. Gladio, I would never have you pegged as a cat person.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> For [tubakabura](https://twitter.com/tubakabura), prompted gladio gen + cats.
> 
> If you'd like to prompt me in support of civil liberties, here is a post on [tumblr](http://pushthequorumbutton.tumblr.com/post/156512832566/so-ive-basically-ditched-tumblr-for-twitter-but) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/plingokat/status/825534225159905280) where I explain what I'm doing.

“You know what,” Prompto announces, all grandiose arm-waving and swagger, “I’m surprised. I’m _astonished_. Gladio, I would never have you pegged as a cat person.”

“What’s there to be surprised about?” Gladio grunts. He inches a little closer to the stray scrunched underneath some shop’s dingy back entrance stairway. “They’re clean, quiet, soft, and if they like you, friendly. All you gotta do is feed them.”

“And clean a litterbox,” Noct says. He wrinkles his nose.

“If you have a dog, you need to grab their poop,” Gladio points out. He slowly extends a hand toward the cat, which bristles. Gladio halts.

“True,” Noct concedes.

“But dogs are your _friends_ ,” Prompto says. “Cats—“

“Cat can be plenty friendly,” Gladio interrupts him. He doesn’t sound irritated at all, just calm. It’s for the cat’s benefit, of course, otherwise he’d be snapping at them all in turn. “You just have to know how to finesse them. Iggy, give me some food.”

Ignis pushes up his glasses and sighs. He’s obviously prepared for this, because he has a bag of jerky already in hand. Prompto wonders how often this happens, because Noctis doesn’t look surprised either. Then again after the whole thing in Galdin Quay, Prompto is pretty sure Noctis likes cats too.

“Here you are.” Ignis only steps close enough to hand Gladio the bag, then retreats again.

“Hey there, kitty cat,” Gladio croons. He takes out a bit of jerky and holds it out. “You hungry?”

The cat looks at him, but it’s obviously afraid. Gladio tosses the jerky lightly toward it. “There you go, see? Nothing scary.”

The cat stays where it is for a long moment, but then it creeps closer. In a flash it darts out and snatches the jerky before retreating back into its haven.

Gladio hisses a little under his breath. Prompto agrees – there’s a dark spot of matted fur along the cat’s flank and it’s limping – it’s obviously hurt. They can’t leave it here.

“Okay,” Gladio says, still soothing. He inches closer again. The cat watches him, eyes shining silver-red in the reflected light. “Okay, here you go. This time I’m just going to set it down, okay? There.”

The cat doesn’t come. Gladio isn’t deterred; he pulls out another piece of jerky and throws it again, this time to land closer to him.

All told, twenty minutes pass before the cat is eating jerky out in the open. Gladio scoops it up in one big hand; it practically fits in his palm, it’s so small.

“Probably only six months old,” Gladio says. He tucks it close to his chest, heedless of its squirming and dirty fur. “Come on, let’s find a vet and get him checked out.”

“It’s a boy cat?” Prompto asks, delighted. “What are you going to name him?”

“I’m not going to name him anything.” Gladio sounds irritated now, probably because the cat is safely in his arms. “We can’t keep him.”

Is it Prompto’s imagination, or did Gladio sound wistful? A quick look at Noct’s face confirms: definitely wistful.

“We _could_ ,” Prompto says, and shoots a pleading look at Ignis. “I mean, there’s nothing stopping us from having a cat, is there?”

“We can’t guarantee a cat’s safety,” Ignis says. “It could get eaten by monsters.”

Prompto winces. “I guess that’s true…”

“If the vet wants to take him to a shelter, I’ll give him to Iris,” Gladio says. He glares at Noct. “Look up a vet, will you?”

“Already did.” Noct stares at his phone and taps at it. “There’s one… eight blocks away.”

“Let’s go,” Gladio says. The cat mews from its perch between Gladio’s arms, head poking out over his wrists; it’s almost unbearably cute even with the matted fur.

“I’m taking pictures of all of this,” Prompto decides. He snaps a photo to prove it: Gladio turning around to glare, the cat hugged close with wide innocent eyes. _Adorable_.

 

Four days later, Iris names the cat _Gladdy_.


End file.
